By now most Simsbury homeowners have received or will receive a revaluation notice of a change to their property assessment and most will notice a decrease in value.
The town of Simsbury performs property revaluations on all residential, commercial, and condominium properties every five years.
At this point, all 2012 assessments have been mailed with the exception of a few properties that require further review, according to Simsbury Assessor David Gardner.
"The assessment should represent a reasonable estimate of market value, whether there was an increase or a decrease," Gardner said.
Because the revaluations are performed every five years most property owners won't see an increase in value.
"Values have declined since 2007," Gardner said.
There are, of course, exceptions where some property owners will see an increase in value.
"Some increases are from new construction, others, are simply updating assessments to current market value," Gardner said.
Revaluations for the town were performed by eQuality Valuation Services, LLC.
Property values are determined using data that includes land value, market value of any improvements (buildings) on the land, and depreciation, Gardner said.
How will this affect your tax bill?
Property taxes are determined by the assessed value of the property and the annual town mill rate which will be set during the budget process.
For the most part, the town assessor's office has only received a few questions regarding the revaluations and some have scheduled informal hearings with the revaluation company.
Homeowners who feel they can demonstrate that their property assessment is incorrect can schedule an informal hearing by January 15 by visiting the company's website or calling 1-877-262-5957. Hearings will be held at Simsbury Public Library.
Homeowners may also appeal the assessment without an informal hearing by appealing their assessment with the Board of Assessment Appeals. Appeals must be filed with the town Assessor by Wednesday February 20, 2013.
Appeal applications are available on the town website.
